Runt-ish
by BunniesAreNotCookies
Summary: There is a story behind every gaze. Or, I try and fit adult themes into a Warriors fanfic.
1. Alleigances and Prologue

**SPROUTCLAN**

Leader: Barkstar: large dark brown tom with amber eyes

Deputy: Brightpatch: bulky cream tom with a dark paw and bright green eyes

(apprentice: Aspenpaw)

Medicine Cat: Seedfang: thick-furred black tom with bright green eyes

WARRIORS

Brackenfoot: bright ginger tom with two white paws and a white muzzle

Whiskertail: black tom with a white muzzle, paws, and belly and a thin tail

(apprentice: Hawkpaw)

Charredmask: cream-and-brown siamese she-cat with blue eyes

Emberpetal: dark russet she-cat

Oaknose: white and brown mottled tom with amber eyes

(apprentice: Acornpaw)

Fawnspring: light brown tabby she-cat with white paws

(apprentice: Whisperpaw)

Reedsplash: silver-gray tabby tom with green eyes

Deerspots: black she-cat with white spots and green eyes

(apprentice: Berrypaw)

Gooseflight: a gray mottled tom with a dark-hued tail

Dawnberry: golden tabby she-cat woth white paws

Foxclaw: black she-cat with bright green eyes and a white patch on her chest

Hickoryflight: dark russet tom with white paws

Pinewhisker: dark gray tom

Snaketooth: yellow tabby tom

APPRENTICES

Whisperpaw: ginger tabby tom with a white muzzle

Hawkpaw: dark brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

Berrypaw: speckled brown she-cat with green eyes

Apsenpaw: tall siamese tom with blue eyes

Acornpaw: tall siamese she-cat with blue eyes

QUEENS

Featherfall: slim white she-cat with one green eye and one blue eye. mother of Whitekit (white tom) Tabbykit (silver tabby tom) Spiritkit (spotted white and gray tom) Cloudkit (pale gray she-cat) Creamkit (white and gray tabby she-cat) and Runtkit (small white she-cat)

Blossomthorn: calico she-cat expecting Gooseflight's kits.

ELDERS

Junipertail: old brown tabby tom with blind amber eyes

Shortpelt: plump and small silver tabby tom

 **SWAMPCLAN**

Leader: Creekstar: black tom with white blotches

Deputy: Russetstripe: dark red tabby tom with amber eyes

Medicine cat: Waveberry: silver-blue she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice: Falconpaw: dark gray tom with amber eyes

WARRIORS

Snowsong: white she-cat with a dark striped tail

Squirrelleap: light brown tabby tom with orange eyes

Rosefoot: golden spotted she-cat with a white-tipped tail and white paws

Flightwhisker: white and black tom with amber eyes

(apprentice: Birdpaw)

Darkflight: black tom with brown eyes

Flamepool: yellow tabby she-cat with white paws

Rippletooth: dark grey tabby tom with a white belly and orange eyes

Leafthorn: ginger mottled she-cat with blue eyes

Lightningfrost: white tom with amber eyes

Spottedshade: tortoiseshell she-cat

(apprentice: Twilightpaw)

APPRENTICES

Birdpaw: gray and black speckled tom

Twilightpaw: pale gray she-cat with darker patches

QUEENS

Timberflake: brown tabby with black stripes. expecting lightningfrost's litter.

Coppernose: ginger she-cat with dark stripes. mother of cloverkit (dark gray she-cat) and beetlekit (red she-cat)

ELDERS

Acornshine: light brown blind she-cat

LONERS, ROUGES, AND KITTYPETS

Cherry: orange tabby kittypet she-cat

Linnie: black rogue tom

 **PROLOGUE**

"Reedsplash!"

Rain fell down at a rapid rate, thunder cracking as bright and jagged lines of electricity appeared to touch the ground and illuminate the area for a split second before fizzling out. this terrified and relieved the cats to an extent. The wind was harsh and sufferable against the cold acorn-sized droplets of water, making the cats' journey back to territory difficult. there were three cats: a pale gray mottled tom, a yellow tabby tom, and a golden she-cat.

They all seemed troubled as they trekked through the forest, the trees above them futile against the harsh weather. It was impossible to speak in a normal voice over the pandamonium; the best they could do was scream at each other.

"Reedsplash!" the dark gray tom howled, "Starclan's sake, Dawnberry, where is he?"

Dawnberry, the she-cat, angled her ears upward as her green eyes blazed with fear, "I don't know, Gooseflight!" she admitted, her voice on edge, "He said he would go ahead!"

"He went this way!" the yellow tabby yowled, bolting off towards the left. Another zap of lightning, followed by a crash of loud thunder.

"Snaketooth!" the gray tom, Gooseflight, called afterwards, "Wait for us!"

As the party caught up to him, they saw the raging and bubbling waters on Swampclan's shore, rising up and crashing on the elevated ground of sproutclan. But underneath the seemingly dark and murky water, bobbing up and down, stood the silver tabby tom they were looking for.

"Reedsplash!" Dawnberry cried, flattening her ears against her cranium in shock. "He's drowning!"

Snaketooth didn't waste any time. He built energy by digging his claws in the clay-like soil and rocketing off the ledge.

"Snaketooth, no!" Gooseflight wailed, and began to crouch to prepare to leap after him when Dawnberry whirled around, blocking him from diving into the raging stream, "Gooseflight, you can't!" she said, "We've already lost two, we can afford to waste another warrior!"

Gooseflight bristled, but relented. he peered over the golden she-cat, seeing Snaketooth struggling to grasp the now limp Reedsplash in his jaws, but the water churned, and in a sickening twist, a large wave headed towards the submerged warriors and buried them underwater.

They didn't come up again.

"Snaketooth! Reedsplash!" the gray tom screeched, bunching his muscles when Dawnberry rammed against his body, the she-cat herself trembling violently.

"Gooseflight!" Dawnberry hissed, "Gooseflight, we need to go back!"

"But-"

"Gooseflight, do you think our clan will be grateful if we lose three-fourths of our patrol?" Dawnberry nudged him forward, "Keep moving! We can't risk our lives!"

Gooseflight kept moving forward, Dawnberry hounding behind the bulky tom. His chest racked with guilt as he imagined he could have saved both of them; nevertheless, Dawnberry was right. they couldn't risk their lives.


	2. A Bee With Another Name

The sun filtered through the moss-covered walls, stuck together with dark mud and burrs that failed to block the light of the morning sun. It radiated on the bodies of the sleeping cats in the nursery. There were two queens: a slim and pretty white she-cat with six kits splattered by her side and a spotted she-cat who lie there with a swollen belly. The kits by the white she-cat's side were already awake and squirming around.

"Featherfall! Featherfall!" they squealed, prodding at their mother, "Wake up, Featherfall!"

"Come play!" a grey she-kit nosed her mom vigorously, her tail curling in delight.

As the clammer of kits beared too much for the she-cat, Featherfall, she opened her eyes and emitted a growl.  
"I'm not playing with you." she snapped, her whiskers twitching in anger, "Let me sleep or I'll claw your ears off."

The kits immediately shrank back. the second she-cat, Blossomthorn, pricked up her ears as her bright amber gaze narrowed at the mother's behavior towards her own kits.

Blossomthorn's head lifted up as she gazed at the six kits with pity glittering in her orbs. the queen's whiskers twitched, "Why don't you play mossball?" she purred.

"Mossball?" one if the kits inquired, the oldest, a tabby tom, "What's mossball?"

"Oh, here!" the calico pulled out some of the soft substance from her nest and tangled it up to form a more rounded edge, "It's a game where you bat it back and forth." she explained, "Doesn't that sound like fun?"

A majority of the kits cried in joy. A gray tom with white patches sprinted forward to take the moss in his mouth.

"Spiritkit!" a gray she-kit cried, bounding after the tom, "No fair!"

"Life isn't fair, Cloudkit!" Spiritkit teased.

As the kits tussled back and forth, Blossomthorn watched them with a gleam in her eye, a wave of happiness and delight as she couldn't wait for the arrival of her own kits.  
However, she counted one missing. Her ears flicked back, her mind recounting all the happy and jumping kits before she realized who was missing out.

Runtkit.

Blossomthorn didn't waste much time searching for her, as she found the small she-kit by her mother, back turned to her siblings.

The spotted queen blinked, shuffling over to the she-kit. Blossomthorn hated Runtkit's name, and she was sure many would agree with her. It was a cruel name, and many mentioned it to Featherfall, but the mother couldn't seem to be bothered with her kit's business and refused to change it.

She crouched down to gaze at the overly small kit.

"Hey, Runtkit." she mewed, blinking in a friendly manner towards the small thing, "Why don't you play with your siblings?"

Runtkit, almost a spitting image of her mother with fluffy white fur and mismatched eyes, the only exception being the overly long tail that seemed to be bigger than Runtkit herself, which flicked in annoyance at this large cat talking to her. She didn't say anything but let her displeasure leak through her expression.

Blossomthorn continued, still looking kindly at her, "Look how much fun they're-" she was abruptly interuptted by a brisk mew.

"No." Runtkit spoke, sharp-tongued as she drew her gaze away, "I don't want to play."

And the expecting queen didn't know how to react. What was she supposed to do when a kit didn't want to play? Usually, it was the other way around with the small things bouncing round and round with enough energy to fill the forest that she'll need to tell to calm down. But this kit was refusing to go anywhere. Blossomthorn had never actually conversed with the kit as it stayed plastered to Featherfall's side, as much as she pushed the poor thing away. Since she was a late bloomer, she had thought maybe that she would develop into more playful and kitlike behaviour. Obviously, this wasn't the case.

"Doesn't that look like fun?" Blossomthorn softly mewed, attempting to coax some conversation or reaction out of her. As Runtkit's eyes followed the kits tussling back and forth, Tabbykit now battling Whitekit for a leadership position, they narrowed into slits even more.

"No." Runtkit repeated, annoyance clear across her face.

Blossomthorn blinked in surprise. She supposed she might as well leave it. The queen gently twitched her whiskers as she retreated back to her nest, beaten by the stubborn Runtkit.

Runtkit didn't care about Blossomthorn. She didn't care about her littermates. The only thing she held an ounce of respect for was her mother. She glanced over at the sleeping Featherfall. She was told she looked too much like her mom. Her siblings had features that accentuated them from each other and their ancestry. Not Runtkit.

She didn't resemble her father as far as she knew. With all the cats poking in and out of the nursery and all their gushing on how she was just a "mini Featherfall", it got to her. With her large attitude and sharp tongue as such a young age, the comments worsened and got more common on how she acted exactly like Featherfall. Runtkit had fluffy white fur and an overly lithe and small body. The one thing that drove everybody's quips, however, were her eyes. Runtkit had large almond-shaped eyes that were mismatched in color, her right eye being green and her left eye being blue that resembled her mother's own orbs.

She saw Whitekit, the biggest of the five, with his white fur that was tipped with gray and a gray dash upon his nose. She saw Creamkit, the second tallest, with dark gray spots on her thin white fur. She saw Cloudkit, her whole pelt pale gray with her white muzzle, chest, and belly. She saw Spiritkit, white with a dark gray spot on his back. She saw Tabbykit, a dark gray tabby. She saw it and she hated it.

Runtkit's own thoughts echoed out the song of kits shrieking in joy, her face screwed in pondering, when a small voice overpowered the pandemonium of blocked-out sounds.

"...can't believe we'll be apprentices with Featherfall's noisy lot..." it spoke, and immediately Runtkit's deep thought was shattered as the kit-like curiosity replaced it. She strained to hear more, whirling her head to the source of the sound.

Two tall apprentices, both Siamese cats, walking side by side. Runtkit recognized them as Charredmask's litter, Aspenpaw and Acornpaw. The small she-kit then let it get the best of her as she hopped over Featherfall and out of the nursery, undetected as Featherfall slept soundly and Blossomthorn turned her attention to her littermates.

Aspenpaw, the brother of the twins, spoke more, "I know, right? It's going to be a disaster!" he jeered, a purr of laughter rumbling in his throat. Runtkit's face returned to it's sour scowl as she could hear their taunts towards them, moving closer.

Acornpaw, the sister, began to open her jaws to continue their verbal assault when she caught glimpse of the small kit with her fur fluffed up in anger, looking quite ridiculous. Her blue eyes glittered, and immediately Runtkit fought the urge to claw her.

"Look, Aspenpaw!" Acornpaw cackled, her whiskers trembling in amusement, "It's the runt!"

The tall Siamese brother turned to look at Runtkit with the same expression that Acornpaw had, "Shouldn't you be in the nursery, _kit_?" he taunted, lowering his head to meet her eyes. Runtkit bristled even more, which seemed even more comical to them as they snorted even before she could retort.

"I'm _almost_ an apprentice!" Runtkit spat back, "You're more of a kit than me!"

Aspenpaw purred as his sister snickered beside him, "So what they say is true." he said, "You do have quite a mouth, _runt_."

The white she-kit was angered further. They were _so_ annoying, acting as if they were warriors already. Runtkit lashed her tail angrily as she hissed in his face, rage running through her brain and occupying her which allowed her inability to make rational thoughts.

Aspenpaw took this as a win as he grinned wickedly. "Why don't you go back to the nursery, _kit_?" he hissed as Runtkit's fury drove her to snarl and just storm back where she had come, and the uptight snickers she heard behind her fueled her escape.

She heard buzzing, and stopping in her tracks in all of her anger, she snapped at the air. Already riled up by the snobby twins, she just wanted everything to cease. The noise drew out, longer, and longer, so Runtkit kept swiping at the air for the noise.

And the bee that emitted its buzzing drove its stinger right into her nose.

The pain hurt, but Runtkit didn't whine. Instead, she got angrier. She wanted to snap at that stupid bee that made her nose swell up. The thing that drove her to the point of madness was the fact that Aspenpaw and Acornpaw probably saw the whole ordeal. Runtkit could only imagine them standing there, laughing as she was carried off by a gentle warrior.

Seedfang, the medicine cat, gently applied the cool herb paste on her nose. Runtkit just stayed upset and quiet.

"Does it hurt?" the black tom mewed gently. She glared up at him roughly, her ears pinning against her cranium as her tail tip twitched.

"Alright then." Seedfang sighed, "Runtkit, you're going to be fine. Just try to take it easy. The swelling should cool down in a couple of days."

Runtkit was never angrier. When she went back into the nursery, she was greeted with the clutter of her own littermates, bombarding her with questions. Blossomthorn went on and on about how she was sorry she wasn't paying attention. Runtkit didn't care.

But as she took a hopeful look at Featherfall, all that she could see was no expression beneath her reflection. All she could see was disappointment and no concern.

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey, join beneath the high ledge for a clan meeting." Barkstar yowled.

Runtkit had heard of mothers rushing to try and contain their excited kits, tumbling over each other and squirming so that they have to contain them in order to lap at their heads lovingly and fix them up before the ceremony. And it was supposed to be the norm. But Featherfall didn't care. She had snapped as Blossomthorn for waking her up to remind her of her kits' apprentice ceremony and was now absent from the nursery.

Runtkit hated Blossomthorn. She loathed the way she acted like their mother, and she especially disliked the fact that the spotted molly was rasping her tongue around Creamkit's ears to flatten the fur.

She wasn't her mother. She never will be.

Even Whitekit and Tabbykit, who had developed loner personalities, sat idle as she nosed down tufts of fur.

They gathered, cats of all shapes and shades hurriedly rushing beneath the Highledge, where the large dark tom stood tall, his sparkling amber eyes scanning over them. Despite Runtkit's rather negative attitude, she couldn't force down the tingle of excitement that rushed through her veins. However, a spark of annoyance graced her as her littermates joined, completely blocking the small she-cat. As the ceremony started, Runtkit growled and wedged herself between two of her siblings to watch, shooting them dirty glares.

"Today, we will have three new warriors and five apprentices." Barkstar announced, his head turning to the side, "First, our warriors. Hawkpaw, Berrypaw, and Whisperpaw please come forward."

And as he spoke, Runtkit caught glimpse of the littermates stepping forward. A ripple of excited whispers followed through the crowd behind her and she flicked her ear.

"You three have fully completed your warrior training and are ready to go onto the next step of your journey. Do you three promise to stay loyal and defend your clan until your last breath? To provide before yourselves and to uphold your honor?" Barkstar recited.

"Yes." They all answered.

And so he concluded: "Then from now on, Hawkpaw, you will be known as Hawkflight. Berrypaw, you will be called Berryclaw. And Whisperpaw, your new name is Whispermask. The clan recognizes your skills and respects you fully."

Then it came. The loud cheers of "Berryclaw! Hawkflight! Whispermask!" Sweeping across the crowds. She felt the cats around her scream their names, while she herself was quiet and impatiently twitching.

"And now, for our apprentices." Barkstar's gaze softened as he looked down upon the cluster of old kits on the base of the high rock, "When I call your name, step forward."

Tabbypaw was first. Then Whitepaw. Then Creampaw, Cloudpaw, Spiritpaw, and finally, Barkstar's eyes bore into hers.

"Runtkit." Barkstar meowed, and her head was spinning. It was really happening. She was really going to be an apprentice. Runtkit could barely breath as she hopped up, her eyes solely focused on the leader.

"Your new name shall be Beepaw." Her heart stopped, "And your mentor is Foxclaw. The clan honors..."

But she couldn't hear him with all the blood pounding in her ears. Her vision blurred and as she unconsciously stepped forward to touch noses with the dark-furred she-cat. Her face was blank.

But in reality, Beepaw was raging.


	3. Beginner's Luck

**I am back, sisters.**

* * *

 _Beepaw. Beepaw. Beepaw._

The name drove her insane. It ran in her veins, pounding in her ears, her claws itching to scratch at her leader for giving her such a demeaning name, yet she stayed put. Her ears were pinned to her cranium, and coupled with the blood she could hear rushing through her body, it muffled the cheers. Though they didn't sound like cheers to her. They were mocking her. Belittling her. She could feel her fur fluffing up, her eyes widening as her vision went blurry, the cats turning into a blended mix of colors and shapes. Finally, she turned her gaze to her leader.

And as she noticed, in everything, was the clear smile on his muzzle.

Beepaw whirled around and dashed off the highrock in the midst of her ceremony. She didn't hear a thing as her paws numbly ran. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to. The leader thought a fool of her. They all did. They all did.

And she didn't hear the gasps and murmurs as she visibly sprinted away from the cats. Where was she going? She didn't even know. She couldn't see anything, but of course she didn't care as she charged and charged and-

Strong jaws gently yet harshly gripping her scruff are what snapped her out of her unconscious run to nowhere. The runt was virtually lifted one third of a tail-length off the ground before being harshly put down on her paws, facing the large stocky build of the leader, his amber eyes narrowed and a scowl gracing his normally kind features.

"Beepaw," he growled, "a word."

"Beepaw, you can't just run off like that in the middle of you apprentice ceremony." Barkstar chided. Beepaw was still upset, yet more embarrassed as she had to be escorted into the leader's den while she had the eyes of every clan member on her, by the leader. She knew those vile twins were laughing their haunches off at her misfortune, and those warriors would have a reason to further condescend her as a small kit with anger issues.

She was at least a bit calmed down as she sat on her haunches in a huff, her plumy tail swinging back and forth on the rough stone flooring as she stayed visibly upset. She didn't say anything as she averted her shameful gaze to the floor, refusing any eye contact.

Their deputy, Brightpatch, stepped into the den, trailing after Barkstar as he also gave a strict look at her, "What in the stars made you do that, Beepaw?"

This struck a chord within her emotions as she spat out, "That! That's why!"

Both authorities exchanged confused looks. "What are you talking ab-" Barkstar began, yet was cut off mid-sentence by the apprentice as she continued, "That name! Why did you change it?" Beepaw hissed, flattening her ears against her cranium in an act of defiance, "I-it's patronizing!''

"Oh, Beepaw." Barkstar's gaze softened as he understood. He emitted a deep sigh, padding over to the smaller cat as he looked down upon her, "I was only attempting to help. I felt as if Runtpaw was more degrading to you." he explained.

"Did you have to make it Beepaw?" The fluffy white runt huffed, curling her tail around her paws as her nose unconsciously twitched, still a bit swollen from the sting.

"I feel as if it suits you." the leader murmured softly, "Bees are small, but tough. They're not afraid to take anybody twice their size, and they're aggressive at times." He blinked kindly, "They're often overlooked, but let's not forget what they make that benefits us."

"Honey." Beepaw breathed.

"Right." Barkstar nodded, "I named you Beepaw because of all those things. Not because of some dumb accident." he reassured, but the apprentice huffed.

"That's not how everyone else sees it." she grumbled, but Barkstar let his tail swipe over her shoulder, "Well, then they're the ones missing out. Now, because of the code, no matter what your intentions were, you still committed an error by running away." He sniffed, flicking his ear back, "So for the next three nights, you are to clean out the elder's bedding."

Beepaw's jaws parted to complain, but Barkstar ushered her out, his head nudging the apprentice forward and quick, rough, shoves. Beepaw didn't even have the chance to think about how condescending he was acting towards her, for his rushed speech took priority.

"Go on, now!" Barkstar mewled urgently, ears pinned against his cranium. Beepaw only managed to fit in a couple of whines, but ultimately she was pushed out of his den, past the deputy, as the leader commanded, "Go find your mentor! See if she can show you around! You are dismissed!"

And with a final nudge, Barkstar swept himself back inside the leaders' den, leaving Beepaw trudging down, the eyes from the cats in the clearing focused on her.

Beepaw! Beepaw! If he really wanted to have this "deeper meaning", he should have made it Wasppaw-

"Beepaw!" The fluffy white runt heard the calls of her littermates, all collectively trotting towards her. Beepaw had gotten weird looks as she exited the den, but she had barely made it a few pawsteps before they stopped her.

"Oh my stars, what happened?" Creampaw called to her, eyes widened with concern. She winced as Cloudpaw also came up to her, bright eyes narrowed into mischievous slits, "Didja get yelled at?" and soon, she got bombarded with questions:

"Why'd you run?'

"Why'd he change your name?"

"Was it because of the bee sting?"

"Do we call you Runtpaw or Beepaw?"

"Are you stupid or did you hit your head on the den before the ceremony?"

Beepaw, overwhelmed, growled and burst out with, "Shut up, mouse-brains! Mind your own business!" She spat. While two recoiled, Tabbypaw, the eldest of the six, scoffed and said, "That was uncalled for, Beepaw!"

She whirled around, scrunching her nose, "Your face is uncalled for! Leave me alone-"

"Beepaw!" another voice called her name, so she spun, already riled by her siblings as she snapped, "What now?"

And she was met face-on with her mentor, a tall, lanky, black she-cat with a sickeningly sweet gaze that quickly flickered as her expression changed to a frown.

"Watch your tone." she scolded gently, "I am your mentor." Her gaze then softened a bit, "We're all about to go out to explore the outside territory. Are you ready to go?"

Beepaw exhaled noisily, "Okay, fine."

With her almost silent murmur of agreement, the group of mentors, five each for five of her littermates, shuffled over. Beepaw didn't know who was assigned to who, since she hadn't been paying attention to the ceremony before she went up, nor did she care. She just thought that all twelve of them traveling together looked extremely stupid. That was until Foxclaw clarified, "Don't worry, Beepaw. We're going to be splitting up so it's easier."

"I wasn't worried." Beepaw begrudgingly replied. The black molly perked her ears up as she mewed, "Lets have Cloudpaw and Whitepaw and their mentors come with us on the east side, and Creampaw, Spiritpaw, and Tabbypaw can go to the west side."

Two cats, Hickoryflight and Emberpetal, both stepped up so it was obvious both were the mentors, and with the way Whitepaw solely focused on Hickoryflight, Beepaw guessed Emberpetal must be Cloudpaw's mentor.

Beepaw's group, as Beepaw now referred to it, headed out first. As she stepped into the corener of camp, soon to be exiting, she realized that this was the farthest she had ever gone out. While SproutClan camp smelled vaguely of willows, alders, and sycamore, since those trees surrounded it, the warm SproutClan cat scent that only their clan formalized always overpowered it. This time, the tree scent was the smell that grew heavier, while the cat scent faded in the background. It hit her hard as she had to take a second and take a deep breath to stabilize her senses.

"It's strong, huh?" Foxclaw murmured, leaning in. Beepaw, startled since she had forgotten her mentor was there, hopped a bit to the side and scowled. Foxclaw sighed at this behavior, but kept trotting forward, "What you see here is SproutClan's outer territory. Here, our prey is birds, mice, voles, squirrels, and occasionally," she turned with a sparkle in he gaze, "frogs."

This made Beepaw's stomach growl. Not the frogs bit, though. She hadn't gotten to eat because of her "incident", so hearing all the prey she could gobble up just made her hungrier. She held her breath, hoping the gargling wasn't too loud, and to her luck, nobody seemed to notice.

"That's right." Hickorynose nodded, stepping forward to the now stopped group of cats, "Over here is Minnow Pond." the red-furred tom angled his ears towards a dark green-blue lake, rounded at the edges and surrounded by neighboring reeds, "We don't normally hunt fish, and minnows are small and hard to catch, so that is usually a closer water source than Division Lake."

Beepaw knew about Division Lake. She bet even kits before they were out of the belly knew about Division Lake, because it was the border and the truce between the other neighboring clan, SwampClan.

"You all know about the myth about Divison Lake, right?" Emberpetal piped up, cocking her head to the side.

"Well, actually I-" Cloudpaw began, a wide smile on her face when Whitepaw cut in, rather rudely, and curtly responded with, "Yes. We don't need to hear it again." that last part, the tom cut a glare towards the blissful and unfazed Cloudpaw.

"That's good." Emberpetal mewed, "It's the oldest tale about clan cats, especially the two clans now, you know-"

"Well, that's just incorrect." Beepaw interrupted, unaware on how utterly impolite she sounded. All gazes turned to the runt as she padded forward to settle next to where every cat was lined up and watching the body of water, mismatched eyes focused on Minnow Pond, "The oldest tale about Clan cats are the feral cat tribes." she continued, turning her head now to face Emberpetal, cocked to the side.

"Well," Emberpetal offered, "I don't necessarily count...those tales. But you can, if you want to." Despite Beepaw being incredibly rude, she offered a tight, polite smile. The runtish apprentice blinked incredulously, tipping her head upward to hold their eyes, hers a terrible fire burning in her orbs. But there was no malice in Emberpetal's expression. She grunted and tore her eyes away, digging her small claws into the ground.

Emberpetal is the worst, Beepaw decided as she heard the buzzy mews of the cats behind her. She wasn't paying attention until Foxclaw nudged her flank forward, a sign she should start moving with the small patrol. Beepaw huffed like a kit who didn't get the prey they wanted, spinning around to follow after the fairly large party.

Beepaw despised the fact that one of the annoying twins was being mentored by their own clan deputy. Specifically, it was Aspenpaw, and it gave both of them a reason to be snobbier. Brightpatch was ahead, weaving through the trees to reach their Training Grounds.

Beepaw was stuck training with Aspenpaw and Acornpaw, along with Tabbypaw, a collective group of stuck-up cats. She trudged, falling behind because of her stubby stature. Of course, this was noticed by Acornpaw who reached her paw to prod at Aspenpaw. Together, they purposefully pretended like they were being secretive and snickered at her unfortunate slowness. Beepaw rolled her eyes, glaring at them with what she hoped was a fearful intensity. It made them snicker harder.

"Are we almost there?" Tabbypaw piped up, making Beepaw shatter her intense looks at the twins.

"Just around here." Oaknose assured, Acornpaw's mentor. Tabbypaw dropped it for the time being until Brightpatch stopped in his tracks abruptly, "Here we are!" he announced proudly.

Stepping to the side, Beepaw saw the great Training Grounds: a large mound of cliff dirt with a gaping entrance.

"Is this it?" Beepaw blatantly spoke her thoughts outloud, extremely unimpressed with the overall getup. She immediately regretted her curiosity as Acornpaw swiveled her head around, slender face immediately popping her personal bubble, blue eyes widened in some fake disbelief. Overwhelmed, the young cat stumbled back, off-guard by the sudden spin that the Siamese apprentice pulled.

"Are you serious?" Acornpaw taunted with a laugh, "That's obviously the entrance!"

"Little cat, even littler brain." Aspenpaw joined in, tutting and shaking his head.

"Oh, leave her alone, you two." Before Beepaw even had the chance to speak up and defend herself, Oaknose spoke, pissing her to no end.

As Oakpaw reprimanded them, Beepaw tuned them out. This is beyond embarrassing! They're gonna think I can't stand up for myself! The runt apprentice thought. Again, she was stopped whenever she wanted to speak up, this time by her own mentor.

"Okay, everyone, quiet down." Foxclaw padded to the front and addressed all the apprentices gathered around, "We're going to review some basics for Tabbypaw and Beepaw." she gave a quick look to Aspenpaw and Acornpaw, "But it'll do you two some good to listen. You're getting sloppy on a lot of the forms."

For once, Beepaw was glad the twins were berated a bit. It was less than she could have liked, but it still counted, course.

Their training course began.

"We're pairing off to spar. Tabbypaw and Acornpaw, Aspenpaw and Beepaw." Dawnberry, Tabbypaw's mentor, mewed, dipping her head as she padded up to them.

Beepaw almost screamed. She was paired with the second half of the most annoying cats on the planet? But this could be an opportunity for her. Maybe she could shove it in Aspenpaw's dumb handsome face that she wasn't just some runt, and she was fully capable of beating his ass into the ground.

Her determination flourished even more when she saw the sneer on Aspenpaw's features as he padded up to her. Beepaw tilted her head up to meet his eyes, squinting.

"Don't worry, Runtpaw." The Siamese cat hissed softly, moving close to her ear, "I'll go easy on you."

"Like hell you will." Beepaw growled back, before clearing her throat and backing to her corner to start whenever she was given the signal to. Which to Dawnberry mewled a sharp, "Start!"

And so Beepaw did, shooting out fast from her starting crouch, and jet towards Aspenpaw at tremendous speeds. The problem was, when she went to tackle, Aspenpaw leapt over her, so Beepaw got a face-full of soil as she crashed. She didn't let that deter her. Aspenpaw had twisted around and pinned her back, but the runt molly immediately twisted to trip and catch him off guard, which worked, as the cream tom slammed to the ground at the same viscosity as Beepaw.

But he had the runt molly trapped under his slender form. Beepaw wriggled free, in turn, shoving him over to pin him properly. But her small form made it extremely simple for Aspenpaw's long legs to bat her off. Pissed as hell already, Aspenpaw's snickering made it even worse.

Beepaw, so far, was not in a good mood. So, pushed over the edge, she did what any sour-mood cat would do, and rolled over and sank her little fangs into his paw.

Aspenpaw's sneers turned into a hiss of pain as he pressed his paw flat on Beepaw's face to push her back, which worked, as the white molly stumbled back.

"Fiesty." Aspenpaw growled, glancing at his paw, "That was cheating!"

"You deserved it!" Beepaw's thick fur stuck up in anger.

"Beepaw, Aspenpaw, _what is going on_?" The shrill voice of Foxclaw cascaded over their little agreement as she trotted over.

"Beepaw bit me!" Aspenpaw replied, still glaring at the runt.

"He started it!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"That's enough!" Foxclaw sighed, moving her gaze unto Beepaw, "Beepaw, I don't care who started it, you don't bite your own clanmates, even if they were being pains. Now," she turned to Aspenpaw, "apologize to him."

"And let him win? Never!"

" _Beepaw_."

Beepaw held her mentor's icy gaze for a couple of heartbeats before she relented, "Fine. Aspenpaw, I'm _sorry_ you're too much of a coward-"

"Beepaw!"

"..-I'm _sorry_ I bit your paw." She choked out. Aspenpaw had a smug look on his face, before he rolled his eyes, "Your apology, is accepted." he mewed, but Beepaw could tell the taunting in his voice.

"Good, and so-" Foxclaw glanced at the mentors, "We should be heading back now."

On their trek to SproutClan, the way Aspenpaw and Acornpaw gave even more snotty looks to her admittedly did tick her off a bit. Revenge didn't feel good. Beepaw didn't feel good. Despite being incredibly irritating, hurting Aspenpaw didn't feel right. But the way he gave a small limp, kind of did instill her own smugness inside.


End file.
